Peter King says tough second-half schedule may prevent 49ers from earning first-round bye in playoffs

The San Francisco 49ers, sitting at 8-0, are the NFL's last unbeaten team. They rolled through the first half of their schedule and will now face some tougher competition. The team has the Seattle Seahawks twice, another matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, and Baltimore Ravens remaining on its schedule.

Those Ravens, by the way, just knocked off the once-unbeaten New England Patriots, and San Francisco will have to face them on the road.

The 49ers may own the NFC's best record, and if the season ended today, would own the top seed in the playoffs, but Peter King of NBC Sports warns that may not remain the case.

In his weekly feature, King briefly explains why San Francisco might not be the favorite to win home-field advantage in the NFC, and may not even earn a first-round bye.

King writes:

"Five NFC teams have seven or more wins through nine weeks, which is amazing. The Niners are terrific on both sides of the ball, particularly on defense, but it's possible 7-2 Green Bay and 7-1 New Orleans could pass them for the top two seeds. San Francisco's second-half schedule is a killer: Seattle twice, the Rams once, and Baltimore and New Orleans on the road."

San Francisco's first test of the second half of the season comes right away when it faces the Seattle Seahawks at home a week from today. The 49ers opened as 6.5-point favorites, but before last year's Week 15 victory, they had lost 10 straight to their division rivals.